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Stressing the need for inclusive development, Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan on Saturday said support for India’s ongoing economic reforms was embodied in the country’s democracy.
He said democracy could at times make it difficult to implement decisions quickly, but the consensus-building process had helped reforms move forward and made them durable and universal.
Delivering the inaugural address at the fifth Kautilya Economic Conclave, organised by the Institute of Economic Growth, Radhakrishnan said the benefits of economic growth should accrue to every section of society for “the sustainability of the democracy also”.
Otherwise, people, especially the youth, “may lose their faith in democracy”, he said.
In this context, the Vice-President said there were people who believed some parts of the world were witnessing a rise in communism. He said opposition to communism arose because it legitimised dictatorship, and not for any other reason.
He underscored the importance of every individual’s freedom of expression, right to work and earn a livelihood, and freedom to spend their earnings as they wished.
Referring to the theme of the fifth edition of the economic conclave, “Resilience in an Age of Flux”, the Vice-President said earlier generations implicitly understood that change was the only constant, but the pace of change had now become more rapid amid rising geopolitical tensions.
He said the younger generation understood this better, but society had to adapt to the increasing pace of change.
Global trade is transforming, technology is advancing faster than ever, and climate challenges are intensifying, he said.
“In these times of flux, we need decisiveness embodied in consensus,” Radhakrishnan said.
He said India entered this period of global flux from a position of strength.
Radhakrishnan pointed to the 7.8 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth recorded in the first quarter of FY27, India’s position as the fastest-growing major economy, and the upgrade of India’s sovereign rating by a Japanese credit rating agency.
“This reflects greater confidence in the strength of our economy and public finances,” he said.
The Vice-President said economic resilience could not be separated from social resilience, and the measure of India’s development was how its benefits reached all sections of society and every region of the country.
He said the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pursued policies that had pulled more than 250 million people out of poverty.
Radhakrishnan said India’s development journey demonstrated that inclusion and growth could reinforce each other.
The task now, he said, was to deepen this foundation, harness technology responsibly, strengthen human capital and create greater opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation.
“In an age of flux, India’s resilience will not come from resisting change, but from embracing it with confidence, and with a spirit of collective endowment,” he said.
Pointing to China’s emergence as the world’s second-largest economy, Radhakrishnan suggested greater flexibility in policymaking.
He said policymakers should take into account not only the global economic situation but also ground realities in villages while framing the country’s macroeconomic policies, an approach he said the Chinese system followed.
Emphasising that a democratic system alone provided space for debate, participation and accountability, Radhakrishnan said: “We have to debate, we have to discuss, but we have to come to a final conclusion that should be acceptable to everyone.”
“There is no other form of government which is a substitute for a functioning democracy,” he said.
The Vice-President, who is also Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, said: “As I preside over the Rajya Sabha, I firmly believe that only free and transparent debate strengthens democracy in our country, and not only in our country, but anywhere in the world.”
He said democracy was embedded in India’s federal polity, shared responsibility, obligations and rights.
Radhakrishnan added that duties and rights went together, stressing the responsibility of citizens to perform their duties before demanding their rights.
Radhakrishnan said India was a classic example that had settled the outdated debate over democracy and development.
“Even while working in our democratic framework, India has achieved high rates of economic growth and all-inclusive progress. The support for our ongoing economic reforms is embodied in our democratic traditions,” he said.
He added that democracy could occasionally make implementation of decisions difficult, but it also made reforms sustainable.
“In a democracy, we have to understand this. The process may sometimes be gradual, and sometimes we may lose our patience within, but we should never show it outside. That is where real success lies,” he said.
The Vice-President highlighted the financial inclusion achieved through the Jan Dhan Yojana, which enabled direct benefit transfers (DBT), strengthened transparency and reduced dependence on intermediaries.
He said there were more than 590 million Jan Dhan accounts as of August 2026 and cumulative direct benefit transfers had exceeded Rs 53.4 trillion.
He said a similar expansion had taken place after the rollout of the goods and services tax (GST), with the number of GST taxpayers rising from more than 6 million in 2017 to over 16 million in May 2026.
“Inclusion is not complete when the people merely enter a formal economy. It is complete only when they acquire the capacity to create value within it,” Radhakrishnan said.
He referred to the creation of 9 million women-run self-help groups covering more than 100 million rural women and underscored the importance of women-led development.
Radhakrishnan said solving problems in a country as vast and populous as India required a 360-degree assessment.
“A resilient economy is not built only in the boardrooms, financial markets, and large infrastructure projects alone,” he said.
It is also built when a woman in a village has a bank account, a benefit reaches her directly, a small enterprise enters the formal economy, a self-help group becomes an enterprise, and that enterprise generates sustainable income, he said.
Referring to the recent expansion of the railway network, especially in the Northeast, the Vice-President said connectivity, which generated better opportunities, had improved significantly, with almost all state capitals linked to the railway network.
Research and global partnerships important
Radhakrishnan also stressed the importance of research and collaboration between Indian and global institutions, saying India’s long-term resilience would depend on the strength of its research ecosystem.
The Vice-President pointed to the memorandum of understanding between the Delhi School of Economics (DSE) and the London School of Economics and said he hoped DSE would have a similar collaboration with Harvard in the future.
On international partnerships, he recalled his experience as chairman of the Coir Board from 2016 to 2020, when it signed an agreement with an Australian university.
Recognition by an established university of coir as a “great green product” helped market it, he said, adding that such partnerships could create new opportunities for research and education.
The Vice-President also spoke about India leveraging its free trade agreements. He said trade deals had improved bilateral trade and could provide further impetus to innovation, entrepreneurship and joint projects across research, education and policy.
Radhakrishnan said economic growth should reach all sections of society.
Recalling his tenure as Maharashtra governor, he said he had asked a visiting governor from the United States why, despite being the world’s largest economy and helping countries around the world, the US did not adequately take care of its homeless population.
“He started smiling at me and said, ‘You are right. That should be taken care of,’” Radhakrishnan said.
The Vice-President stressed the need to adapt to changes while ensuring they did not create confusion or hatred in society.
“Let us make this decade a decade in which every Indian is not merely a participant in India’s growth story, but a contributor,” he said.
“This is the foundation on which we can build a developed world, a harmonious world.”
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